Superman: New Krypton #1

After an epic battle with Brianiac, Superman has restored the city of Kandor on Earth. It doesn't take long for tension to spark between humans and Kryptonians. 

This is the beginning of the huge Superman event New Krypton I had been looking forward to reading. The first trade overall, wasn't as enticing as I would have hoped. It got off to a pretty slow and mundane start, but eventually picked up quite a bit during the last half of the story. 

The first half focuses on Jimmy Olsen and writer James Robinson just didn't pull me in to the story. In all honesty, this part felt like a real drag. I like James Robinson a lot but I'm not really seeing the significance of this Jimmy Olsen story. Jimmy follows a lead pertaining to the mysterious individual who was standing on a rooftop during the fight between Superman and Atlas a short time ago. Olsen's adventures are anything but exciting. I was glad when this part came to an end as Superman finally arrived to save this book.

Once the actual New Krypton story begins I was much more immersed in the story. The story began with some of the pages from the prior story arc involving Brainiac. The panels during Jonathan Kent's funeral were reprinted. Some might perceive this as a rip-off, I'll just look at is as a way to get everyone up to speed on recent events. We find out the government has Brainiac and is trying to obtain the information in his brain. I like how the writers (Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates) focused on Superman trying to balance his time between his Earth family and his Kryptonian family. Martha was enduring difficult times and the artists captured the emotion perfectly. I liked how Krypto went to comfort Martha. Dogs can always sense those kinds of things you know.

With the pacing starting off slow and the direction a little foggy, towards the end I think we get a clearer picture where this story might be heading. As Superman tries to make peace between humans and Kryptonians, Doomsday arrives to spoil everything. Although he was defeated, I think the writers may continue to drive the wedge between humans and Kryptonians. The potential for a great story is there. Hopefully the writers exploit it and deliver.

The art during the Jimmy Olsen story was by Jesus Merino, Steve Scott and Leno Carvalho. It was fairly decent artwork but is forgettable in comparison to the artists who followed after them. For the New Krypton story, the at is by Gary Frank, Renato Guedes and Pete Woods. No new work from Gary Frank was presented, just the reprinted pages from the last story arc. Renato Guedes and Pete Woods both deliver some great art. Renato Guedes has been doing some phenomenal work on Superman. He definitely held the edge over Pete Woods. 

While the event got off to a pretty slow start, it looks as if things are heading in an interesting direction. Hopefully the remainder of the event will live up to my expectations. At least they're trying to shake things up and do something never done before. I look forward to the outcome.